


Double Trouble

by LNNXXP



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Flirting, Bad Flirting, Barista Eren Yeager, Casual dating, College Student Eren Yeager, Eren just is really awkward, Fluffy, Levi is really hot, M/M, Switching, bigender levi, bisexual eren, everything is just happiness and giggles and lipstick, hints of DID, i needed a break from my angst writing and this was the product, like super rapid speed build, like whats the opposite of slow build because this is it, mentions of rpdr because im trash, minimal angst, quasi sugar daddy levi, stylist!Levi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-07-19 00:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7337665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LNNXXP/pseuds/LNNXXP
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren's job at the coffee shop was boring and dull until an interesting customer catches his eye. Make that two interesting customers. And by interesting, he means unbelievably hot. Work just got a lot more entertaining. </p><p>(aka Levi is bigender but Eren's clueless and doesn't realize that both his crushes are the same person, and Levi takes advantage of this just to torture him)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Double Take

**Author's Note:**

> this story is dedicated to me circa junior high. ty for pronouncing Rivaille as Ri-Vai-Lee for years until highschool spanish kicked in. congrats kiddo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story is dedicated to me circa junior high. ty for pronouncing Rivaille as Ri-Vai-Lee for years until highschool spanish kicked in. congrats kiddo.

The cafe was quiet in the mornings, much to Eren’s relief. He doesn’t trust himself with customers at six in the morning, why did people feel the need to be active at this time of day? Why did his boss feel the need to open up the shop at these ungodly hours, and why did Eren even agree to work early morning shifts, nonetheless on a Monday? Eren’s mind buzzed with questions as he stared at the coffee machine with blank eyes. The ringing of the bell above the door indicating the presence of a customer woke Eren from his trance.

“Good morning! Welcome to Cafe Maria,” Eren said, taking extra care to make sure he sounded like he didn’t actually want to die. The customer walked up to the counter and with every step Eren could feel his heart threatening to leave his chest. He was most definitely awake now.  _ Oh no, he’s hot! _  The man was short, but that wasn’t significant compared to his pale complexion, dark hair in a neat undercut, and stormy grey eyes framed with dark circles that somehow managed to look attractive. He didn’t seem too fond of mornings as well, judging by his-to put it eloquently- bitch face. The only thing separating Eren and the man was a stupid counter and Eren wanted to jump over it.

“Oi, did you hear me?” Eren was brought out from his thoughts by a sharp, deep voice. 

“Sorry! Mornings,” Eren tried to fake a giggle but he’s pretty sure he sounded like a dying chicken,”What can I get for you?”

“Tch. Large black coffee with a shot,” Levi responded. Eren inwardly grimaced, personally he thought black coffee was disgusting, even worse with a shot. How did this guy manage to drink that?

“What’s your name?” Eren asked, picking up a cup and a sharpie. He started scribbling the order onto the cup, only looking up when the customer revealed his name which Eren promptly wrote down.  _ Levi, hmm. What a pretty name _ . “That’ll be two dollars.”

Levi pulled out a twenty, and after getting his change back he shoved it into the tip jar.  Eren briefly left and returned with Levi’s order. Levi snatched the coffee from Eren, desperate for some caffeine in his system. Without another word, he took a seat in a small table by the glass wall and sipped at his coffee while looking at his phone.  Eren was struggling to convince himself that the heat was from the coffee. Yup, totally, 100%. The coffee made his face heat up. More than once, he was caught staring at Levi, and each time their eyes met, Eren thought he went into cardiac arrest. After about thirty minutes, and a painfully awkward refill, Levi left. Eren let out a sigh, whether it was from relief or disappointment, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he desperately wished Levi would return. 

Eren’s wish was granted the next morning when Levi came back the next morning, ordering the exact same thing as the previous day. Jesus, did this man have a caffeine addiction? Eren was a college student himself and understood the need for coffee, but no milk or sugar? Disgusting. It would taste gross when he kissed him.  _ Wait what? _ Eren found that he was fantasizing about kissing Levi but being disturbed by the taste of bitter coffee. He internally chastised himself for thinking about a customer that way. 

He asked for Levi’s name again, mostly to hide that he had spent a good portion of yesterday’s shift thinking about him. As if he would actually forget Levi’s name. 

The remainder of the shift couldn’t go any fucking slower for Eren and when the clock hit 2, he almost jumped in excitement. Although he had class in two hours, at least he wouldn’t have to stay in this sleep inducing cafe. He rushed into the locker room and threw his green smock and cap into his lock. He’d have to change from his stupid beige polo and white pants later. Eren thought his boss, Erwin, was slightly insane for making the workers wear white pants at a coffee shop and beige or white polo.  

 

Eren enjoyed his classes, unlike many of his fellow students. He was majoring in environmental science with a minor in marine biology. Though originally he wanted to go into the marine corps-he even took JROTC for four years in high school-he opted not to do so as per his mother’s wish. Heh, either way marine or marine. It was fine in the grand scheme of things, he loved studying living things. And to sweeten the deal, his best friend, Armin, was also studying marine biology, though as his major. Today, his professor for marine biology, Dr. Zoe, was talking about crustacean reproduction. The only thing that sucked about this class was that, while they only met twice a week, it was two hours long.  Eren’s growling stomach indicated that it was around 6 and that class would soon end. Not so surprisingly, Eren’s internal clock was correct, and Dr. Zoe wrapped up their lecture. 

Deciding that his broke ass can’t handle actual food, Eren ate ramen noodles while watching some stupid K-drama at his janky apartment. Starting this school year, he had been kicked out of the dorms since he was a sophomore now and the dorms were reserved for freshmen. He hadn’t been particularly upset about it; the dorm was cramped and mold stains were rampant all around. Luckily, when he, Armin, and Mikasa, his sister, combined budgets, they were able to get a nice three bed apartment. Rent ate up about a third of his monthly income, and when things got bad he had to take up extra shifts, but it was totally worth it for the home he got. Besides, his parents had no reservations about occasionally helping him out considering his dad was a big shot doctor in the state. Thankfully, Eren was sitting on a sports scholarship with soccer and Armin had full ride for his academics as well.

His thoughts started straying to the handsome shorty who came to his cafe the past two days. Had he always gone there and Eren only recently noticed? Or was he new to the town? The town was close to the nation’s capital so it made sense for new people to come to the city. On the other hand, it was a college town through and through. Eren pondered on the sudden existence of this man in his town. Or his college’s town since technically Eren now lived one town over. The guy-Levi, he gave Eren his name- was good looking in his own way. Dark hair contrasting his pallid skin, with grey eyes that seem to have mixed the other two colors together. Levi reminded Eren of a black and white film. The fact that Levi wore a white button up and black slacks both days Eren saw him further emphasized his point. Eren laid in bed hoping that Levi would show up again the next day, only to frown when he realized that his shift was in the afternoon on Wednesdays. Levi showed up in the mornings, god dammit. Trying to brush away the disappointment, but failing for the most part, Eren went to sleep.

 

Armin noticed that Eren was a bit grumpy the next morning, “a bit” meaning passive aggressive bitchiness. When Armin offered coffee, Eren looked at him as if Armin had killed their cat. Said cat was avoiding Eren since he had pushed the cat off their sleeping spot on the couch and made a point to sit there, glaring at the cat challenging her to challenge him. Kimchi, Eren’s cat, eventually backed down and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch. Eren made a point to lay down and stretch his legs, not allowing Kimchi enough room. Mikasa made some omelettes for breakfast, and Eren ripped his up to resemble scrambled eggs.  Eren’s refusal to drink coffee did not help the situation, usually caffeine in his system was what got Eren to his happy self. 

“Okay spill it, Eren, what’s wrong?” Mikasa asked, getting sick of Eren’s rude behavior.

“Nothing’s wrong,  _ mom _ ,” Eren replied with snark in his voice. “Absolutely fucking nothing!” 

After practically chugging the rest of his eggs, Eren ran into his room and slammed the door. What the fuck was wrong with him today? He usually loved Wednesdays since he didn’t work the morning shifts. Oh wait, that was it. He was being a pissy bitch since he didn’t get to see his dear beloved Levi. Eren bit his hand in the area near his thumb, an old habit he had formed during his teen years. He really needed to work on his temper. Leaving his room with a sheepish green, he greeted Mikasa and Armin who were still sitting at the breakfast bar. 

“Sorry about being an ass earlier, I was just… frustrated, yeah. I have a test tomorrow and studying was going nowhere,” he could feel his ears heating up along with his face as he stammered out his apology. 

“It’s fine, Eren,” Armin chuckled, “but you should probably apologize to Kimchi.”  _ Oh fuck. _

Eren meekly approached his tortoiseshell cat, Kimchi. He hadn’t even been this nervous to apologize to his roommates, but there he was cowering to his cat. After all, torties were known for their attitudes.  Kimchi simply glanced at him, looking uninterested, but Eren was convinced she was planning to murder him. Behind those pretty golden eyes was homicide, Eren just had a gut feeling. He stepped into the balcony and tore a piece of catnip from the small flowerbed. Kimchi was much more responsive this time when Eren approached her, pleased at the offering that her human was bringing and decided to forgive him, for now that is. He still had most of the day to kill before starting his afternoon shift at four.  Instead of being a productive member of society, he spent those hours curled up on the couch with Kimchi watching old episodes from Rupaul’s Drag Race. No, he wasn’t salty that Katya lost. Not one bit. 

 

Around 3 in the afternoon, Eren finally got up from the couch and got ready for work. A fifteen bus commute later, Eren was at Cafe Maria. He rushed into the employee locker rooms and retrieved his smock and cap. In his opinion, the caps were pointless, they were indoors anyway. Sighing and preparing for the coming eight hours of torture, Eren stepped out. He took his position by the register and plastered on his best fake customer service smile. It was the afternoon, and Eren didn’t have morning grogginess as an excuse to not be cheery. 

Several frustrating customers later, a gorgeous woman entered the cafe and Eren was floored. She was way too hot. These stupidly attractive customers were going to drive Eren insane eventually. Speaking of, the lady approaching the counter looked oddly familiar.  _ Oh my god, she looks like Levi _ . They had the same pale skin, thin eyebrows, and small stature, although she did seem a little taller but she was wearing heels so Eren couldn’t really tell.  But the similarities ended there, she had long, wavy black hair. Plus, she was, ahem, curvy. Not that Eren was looking but she had quite an hourglass going on. Her [high waisted skirt](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwi_7Jzfl83NAhUD8WMKHQsOCSYQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F509117932845782518%2F&bvm=bv.125801520,d.cGc&psig=AFQjCNGebVhHy-wuDdT7dLJH65_oPiVFfA&ust=1467287910540141) that emphasized her waist didn’t do much to hide her figure. Her makeup was on the heavier side though, Eren noted, but those maroon stained lips looked so good on her.  Regardless, Eren’s poor bisexual heart couldn’t take the thoughts of Levi and the image of the gorgeous woman who happened to be there right that moment. He started wondering if twenty year old, healthy athletes could get heart attacks, he’d have to call his dad and ask him sometime.  _ Come on, Jaeger, breathe goddammit.  _

“Welcome to Cafe Maria! How may I help you?” Eren repeated the sentences that had been burned into his brain. 

“Large iced coffee, caramel drizzle, five pumps of classic, 2% on top, easy ice,” she rattled off as if she had ordered that exact drink all her life. Completely caught off guard, Eren scribbled furiously on the cup to catch up with her. 

“That’ll be two-seventy five,” Eren read off the register, “And what’s your name?”

“Aille, A-I-L-L-E,” she responded as she dug through her purse for her wallet. She pulled out a twenty and handed it to Eren. “Keep the change.” With a wink she left to take her seat. 

Eren took care in making her drink himself, making sure the caramel drizzle looked nice and that the syrup was added just as she had asked. When he was done, hoping it was good, he placed it on the counter where finished orders went. 

“Iced coffee for Aille,” Eren called out. He was praying she would come quickly so he could get a glimpse of her before he had to go back to the register. There had to be some sort of coffee-romance god watching over him because she seemed to appear out of nowhere. 

“Thank you, Eren,” she said and took a sip from her coffee. “Mhm! This is really good,” she licked her lips while making eye contact with Eren. Half of Eren was staring because her lipstick didn’t budge and the other half was, well, turned on. “I should come here more often. Although, you weren’t here when I came in this morning. I wanted to see you before going to work.” 

Before Eren could process anything she said, Aille left the cafe, leaving Eren looking like a fish out of water.  _ What. How the holy hell did she know that he normally worked mornings here? Had she come in before and he just didn’t notice? No way. _ Utterly confused, Eren remained frozen standing by the pick-up counter.

"Hey, Jaeger, stop slacking!” Jean practically shouted at him. Another reason why Eren preferred morning shifts, Jean worked the afternoons. “Oh, by the way, do you remember the name of that hot chick that just walked out?” Eren smacked Jean on the back of his head. Of course he remembered her name. But there was no way he was telling Jean though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, disclaimer: my perception of bigender-ness can be different than yours. I'm bigender and I usually present the way I'm feeling day to day to help avoid confusion from other people. Gender binary bs but that's just my lifestyle. 
> 
> also i'm 1000% salty about katya and if anybody catches that reference, I love you to the ends of the universe kthxbai.


	2. Double Booked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren gets rlly lucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh the drink that Aille ordered last chapter is my go-to afternoon drink lol  
> kinda dialogue heavy chapter

Seeing Levi in the mornings eventually became somewhat of a routine. Every morning, at least those that Eren worked, Levi would come in at about 6:30, order a large black with a shot, stay for about thirty minutes doing nothing but stare at his phone, and leave without talking to Eren.  At some point, Eren stopped pretending like he didn’t know Levi’s name. Of course, Eren used those thirty minutes that Levi was there to stare at the man. It’s not like there were many customers at that time of day. Levi seemed like he was a very stable person, with his constant perfectly ironed white button ups and crisp slacks in addition to his never changing order. Eren began to wonder if that man even owned casual clothes or drank anything that wasn’t black coffee.  One day Eren mustered up courage from within to say “Good morning, Levi. Would you like the usual?” instead of his employee manual greeting. A new pattern was established.

On the other hand, Aille came in more sporadically. He never knew when the girl  would come prancing through the doors. Eren noticed she changed her hairstyle quite often. Her black hair turned into brown that turned into grey-ish blond with dark roots peeking out, long wavy hair to straight with bangs to fancy updos. Her makeup had makeovers frequently as well. She seemed to like experimenting with her looks; switching between bold lips and simple eyeliner to dramatic eyes and nude lips. She seemed really versatile with her clothing as well, switching between business woman looks and flirty young girl outfits. But whatever she did, it suited her perfectly. Eren came to the conclusion that she was a fickle person, even her drinks constantly changed. It was kind of endearing when she lightly bit the tip of her index finger while trying to decide on a drink.  Oh lord, Eren needed some help ASAP.

Finals were approaching and Eren wasn’t too worried. Not because he had prepared for a long time, like that was ever going to happen. No, Eren had his cramming method down to a tee. He would hole himself up in the corner of Cafe Maria in a little booth hidden from the rest of the store. He’d be there when it opened at 6 and stay there until it closed at 12. The store had a near unlimited supply of coffee and food. He couldn’t cram in his room, his bed was far too tempting, but the cafe was familiar enough that Eren could relax while studying but still be alert since it was where he worked. If he desperately needed to sleep, he had access to the locker rooms and could trust the other baristas to wake him up. Erwin had taken a few days off his schedule to let him study for finals, he was also familiar with Eren’s prefered method of cramming. His 18 hour plan had been fine tuned over four years of high school and two years in college. 

One factor he did not take into account and could not control was Levi. When Levi entered the cafe to find Eren in a booth instead of his normal spot behind the counter, he quirked an eyebrow at Eren. He tried not to blush, he really tried. It completely blindsided Eren when Levi sat down across Eren in his booth. Normally, Eren would’ve gotten upset that someone was invading his personal bubble, but this someone was special. Levi silently sat there, sipping at his coffee, and rather than staring at his phone, he was staring at Eren. Though, the air was tense as neither were attempting conversation.

“Uh, hi, Levi,” Eren finally squeaked out.

“Hello. Eren, right?” RED ALERT RED ALERT,  _ Oh my god, he said my name. How does he know my name? Holy fuck. It sounds so hot coming out of his mouth. Wait a second, I wear a name tag everyday of course he knows my name. Calm down, Jaeger, you got this.  _ “Don’t you usually work now?”

“Yeah. But, finals and yeah,” so much for keeping it together. Good going, Jaeger.

“Care to explain what ‘But finals and yeah’ means?”  _ There’s still hope for recovery.  _

Eren explained his 18 hour cramming plan to Levi who only listened with an amused half smile. He silently hoped that he hadn’t made a fool of himself in front of Levi with his rather long rant. Levi picked up the conversation with pointers from his college years and the two had a nice casual conversation about the hell that takes form as college. Levi glanced at his wristwatch, frowning as he read the time.  An hour had passed and he had to get to work soon. 

“Oi, Eren. Seems like I chipped off an hour from your flawless ‘18 hour cram plan’” Levi noticed the frantic look that Eren had. Damage control, think Levi, think. “But I have an idea. If you pass your finals, I’ll buy you lunch. You look like you’re starving. Since you’re a college student, it’s not that much of a surprise though.”

Eren’s brain decided that it was a great idea to shut down right then and there. Date? Was it a date? Once Eren’s brain was functioning again, he tried to formulate an answer. 

“OKAY!” he blurted.  _ Smooth _ . Eren punched himself internally as Levi let out a small chuckle. He’d done it. He’d royally embarrassed himself in front of Levi.

“Alright kid, here’s my number. Tell me when you get your final results back. Good luck,” Levi wrote his number on a clean napkin and handed it to Eren as he got up and left. Eren was sitting there like an idiot as he watched Levi’s small figure disappear beyond the doors.   _ Hate to see him go but… _

With a new fire lit under his ass, Eren began cramming with ferocity. He had an incentive now, a damn good one at that. Lunch with Levi! Did it count as a date? Oh well, he’d count it as a date in his books.

 

Around noon, his initial adrenaline was starting to wear off and he needed caffeine. Eren decided that he’d try Aille’s most frequently requested drink: the one she ordered the first time they met. On second thought, he decided to add a shot to it. When he recited his order to Jean, he heard a giggle behind him. Turning around, he came face to face with none other than Aille. 

“Uh...Hi, Aille!” Eren sputtered out. His jaw was dropped and Eren wracked his brain for more things to say.

“Earth to Jaeger!” Jean said, interrupting the moment. 

“Make me two of the drink!” Eren said, tossing a ten at Jean and not looking. “Uh I hope that’s what you were planning to drink today.” He cringed at how awkward he sounded, but Aille seemed to have found it cute. Eren walked to his booth, hoping that Aille would follow. Aille plopped down on the same place Levi had sat earlier that day.  She started looking at the papers strewn across the table and the stray highlighters rolling around the booth.

“Oh, were you studying? I didn’t mean to interrupt you! Sorry,” Aille said as if she were extremely concerned.  She even made a point to grab her purse and start standing up.

“No, no! Wait, yes, but stay!” Eren tried not to sound desperate. Aille sat back down and quirked an eyebrow. There go those damn butterflies, Eren should really call an exterminator. “I was studying for a final, but I’ve been here since six in the morning. And I was about to take a break anyways. So...uhm yeah, I’d like it, I’d like it if you stayed a bit”  _ Smooth Jaeger, Prince Charming for sure. _

“I’ll go get our coffees first. Oh thanks for the drink by the way. You got my order right,” Ailee said with a wink.  Eren used the few seconds that Aille took to bring the drinks to try and calm himself. Wasn’t particularly effective, but he’d manage. 

“So, what are you studying?” 

“This one’s environmental science. It’s my major,” It seemed to set something off in Eren and he started going on a tangent about the environment. Aille seemed to tune into the conversation with extreme interest, clinging to every word that Eren said, and occasionally adding in a question or two here and there. After a particularly heated rant about coral reef sustainability, his eyes landed on the small watch on Aille’s wrist. “Oh my fucking god I only have eight hours left!”

“Your test is in the middle of the night?” It was only four, and Aille had a confused expression. Eren briefly explained his 18 hour cram plan, omitting the fact that it was shortened a bit today due to unforeseen circumstances. Aille listened attentively as if she hadn’t heard that spiel already. 

“What time does your test end?” Aille’s plan was set into action.

“Probably around noon, though we’re allowed to leave once we finish,” Eren replied.

“Perfect! Let’s get lunch tomorrow, here’s my number, call me,” Aille wrote a number down on a clean napkin, just as Levi had done earlier that day. “Good luck! I won’t keep you distracted for too long now.” 

When Aille left, Eren stared at his hand that was gripping a napkin. Had he scored two dates in less than twelve hours? Once again, he felt the determination to study again.

 

The test itself wasn’t too horrible. Just a 100 question multiple choice test. Eren entered the class feeling confident, but that confidence was shrinking as he approached the scanner. What if he didn’t pass? Would Levi still go on a date with him? He felt anxiety bubbling in his chest with each step towards the machine that would seal his fate. As if he were setting down  a sleeping baby, he carefully laid down his answer sheet under the scanner. A paper with his results printed from the printer next to the scanner. Eren grabbed the paper and retrieved his backpack, then ran out the door. Sooner or later, Eren would have to look at his score, and he went with sooner. He barely restrained himself from jumping in the air, a 95%! Damn, those incentives sure were effective. Oh! He had two people to call and couldn’t decide on who to call first. It was only 11:30, and Aille would probably be expecting a call by noon, so he decided to call Levi first. 

After only two rings, Levi picked up. “Levi Ackerman, name and purpose.” A chill ran up Eren’s spine at the deep voice from the phone.

“Oh uhm. This is Eren! From Cafe Maria?” 

“Ah, I see. So when are you getting the results?”

“I already have them. My school has these scanning thingies, if a teacher uses a multiple choice test, we get results back on the spot.” Levi let out a small hmm. “And guess what?” Eren didn’t really give Levi a chance to guess. “I got a 95! Can you believe this?”

He could hear Levi chuckling lightly. “So you’re not a complete shit for brains like I thought. How about we kick up the prize a bit? Let’s do movie and a dinner instead.”

Eren thinks he might’ve fainted.  _ No, I can’t faint right now! I have a date! Two dates! _ He snapped out of his daze and said,”Sounds great! When?”

“Tonight,” Levi said nonchalantly. Okay Eren was definitely going to faint now.  _ Keep it together, Jaeger.  _

“O-Okay sure, yeah,”  _ Quite the charmer.  _

“Text me your address and I’ll pick you up at 5. We’ll watch the movie first, then dinner. Does that work for you?” Eren made a mental note to clear all plans that night. He was planning to go out with a few friends to celebrate but for some reason, a date with Levi sounded much better than getting shitfaced off of cheap tequila. 

“Awesome! Thanks, Levi,” Eren was beaming.

“No problem, brat. Thank me later,” Levi hung up. Eren was smiling like a maniac and he didn’t care who saw. He had a date with Levi! After coming down from the high, he decided he should call Aille, she had promised him a lunch together. Punching in the number from the napkin, he mentally prepared himself and begged the powers of the universe to help him not fuck it up.

“Hello, this is Aille, who’s calling?” a silky voice answered.

“Uh, hey. It’s Eren, from Cafe Maria,” Eren felt a blush creeping up on his face. “I’m done with the final, did you still want to grab some lunch?”

“Of course. Do you have anything particular in mind?” The two ended up settling for  some sushi place near Eren’s school, agreeing to meet in thirty minutes. Since it was  a casual affair, he decided to keep on what he was wearing: a plain black tee shirt with a red and black plaid shirt and black jeans. Eren started jogging to a nearby bus stop, hoping he’d make it in time.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry i can't stop myself from dropping a crap ton of random references


	3. Double Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> good luck, eren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (fyi for those of you who don't know, ROTC is like a military prep program in colleges, JROTC for high school.)
> 
> (ps this is the layout of eren/mika/armin's apartment : http://medialibrarycdn.entrata.com/media_library/1826/557729b1184d4538.jpg)

“Eren!” a familiar voice called out when Eren entered the small sushi joint. The place wasn’t terribly crowded and had a nice atmosphere. Eren found Aille sitting at a small booth with a fountain drink on the table. “I waited till you got here to order.”

Eren blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. The two went to the counter and Eren ordered an 8 piece spicy tuna roll while Aille ordered a 6 piece sushi combo. Even when Eren insisted on paying, Aille refused and paid for the both of them.

“How’d your test go?” Aille asked once the two arrived back at the booth.

“It went really well! I got a fucking 95%! Can you believe it? Like I even scored a da…,” Eren’s excited shouting slowly faded out.  _ You idiot! Don’t mention other dates to a date, geez. Wait is this even a committed thing?  _

“You scored a da-?” Aille asked, with a quirked eyebrow and a playful smile. 

Eren contemplated his options. He could tell Aille about his date with a super hot mystery man or he could keep that part secret.  _ I mean this whole thing could just be like an ‘as friends’ kinda thing. I could just be assuming we’re on a date.  _ He internally rationalized with himself, failing to notice that Aille was watching him with an amused smirk. 

“A date. I scored a date,” Eren sighed out, preparing for the worst. Would she throw water at him like they do in the k-dramas? Would she slap him across the face?

“Oh my god, really? With who? When is it? Spill the details!” Aille squealed.  _ Oh so this lunch was an ‘as friends’ thing.  _ Eren couldn’t help but feel simultaneously relieved and disappointed. 

“I don’t really know him, all I know is his name. Funny thing is, I met him at Cafe Maria, too. He comes in every morning at six thirty, orders a large black coffee with a shot and then leaves. I have no idea how he drinks those things they’re so gross!” Eren ended up rambling. 

“You’re gay?” Aille asked.  _ Oh no! Is she homophobic? _

“Uh not really? Kinda I guess? Bi-curious maybe?” Eren stammered out. 

“Oh, that’s cool. I’m like pan I guess,” Aille confessed with a chuckle. Eren let out a breath that he didn’t even realize he was holding. “Anyways, so did he just ask you out some morning? How’d the test help you ‘score a date’?” 

Eren eventually confessed all that happened the previous day and Aille listened with intent, as if it was the newest information in the world.

“So what does he look like, this mystery coffee guy?” Aille asked with a smirk.

“Oh my god, he’s so hot. He’s got this undercut that’s so freaking sexy. His skin is like super pale and his eyes! They’re like super pretty grey, kinda.... Kinda like yours,” Eren admitted with a blush. 

“He and I both have pretty eyes, huh? Interesting. Where are you guys going for the date?” 

“Oh, I don’t really know? All I do know is that it’s dinner and a movie, but he didn’t specify anything else.”

“Really? So have any idea what you’re going to wear?”  _ Ah shit, I didn’t think about that part!  _ “If you want, I can help you? That is, if you’d like. I’m a hairdresser, so I can do your hair too.”

“Thank you so much, Aille! I’d love that!” Eren gushed. She was a life saver.

“When’s the date?” 

“Today. 5. I think we’re watching the movie first?” 

“Eren it’s almost 2! We’ve got to start now!”  _ What the fuck? Who gets ready for dates three hours ahead of time? _ “Where do you live, since we both drove here, I’ll just tail you.”

“Uhm, I don’t have a car. I took the bus here. But I live in the apartments in the next town, I’ll just give you directions.” Aille refused to let Eren take the subway back to his house and insisted on giving him a ride. Eren saw no point in arguing so he ended up agreeing. The ride to his apartments wasn’t to long or awkward. The two had a casual conversation about school and work in Aille’s red Kia Rio. It fit perfectly with it’s owner, super tiny but adorable. 

 

They arrived at the apartment to find that it was empty, with the exception of Kimchi who was disinterested at the guest. Oh wait, Armin and Mikasa still had tests going and would probably go out to celebrate with their friends. At least he could easily escape the inevitable interrogation for the time being. Aille took her heels off and instantly shrunk 4 inches and Eren muffled his giggle.

“My room’s over there to the right, next to the kitchen.” Eren silently prayed that his room wouldn’t be too messy. He didn’t want Aille thinking he was a slob. Thankfully, it wasn’t too bad, just a few stray papers and clothes here and there. Eren led Aille to his closet which was behind his bathroom (he claimed the master bedroom so his bathroom and walkin was all connected). “So uhm, what do you think?” 

“You should text him and ask what the dress code is. Also can I use your bathroom?”

“Oh sure, I’ll just be in the living room,” Eren walked out and pulled out his phone. 

**_Me: what’s the dress code?_ **

Eren didn’t even have to wait for a full minute before his reply came.

**_Levi: Semi-casual. But don’t show up in jeans and a t-shirt, brat._ **

Welp, there went Eren’s original plan.

**_Levi: While I have you on the line, what’s your address.?_ **

Eren texted him his address. Feeling a little brave, he tacked on another little message.

**_Me: Can’t wait to see you tonight ;)_ **

Aille came out of his room a few minutes later.

“He said semi-casual. What does that even mean?” 

“Don’t worry, honey. I’ve got your back,” Aille said with a wink.  _ Doctor! Doctor! My heart! _ Eren suppressed his thoughts for the girl. He had a date with an equally hot man! And she was helping him prepare for it! Aille dragged him back to his closet and digged around until she found what she was looking for. 

“Here, try these on,” she stuck out a few different button-ups at him then pushed him into the closet. 

Eren came out a few seconds later with a white dress shirt on. 

“I can get pretty messy while eating so I don’t think this is a good idea,” Eren said. Aille signed for him to go back into the closet. 

Eren then came out in a black shirt. Aille looked at it, contemplating but shook her head. Finally, Eren came out wearing a dark navy button up. 

“Eren, you look gorgeous!” 

“I think my dad bought me this shirt to wear to his fancy dinner parties,” Eren said, crinkling his nose.

“Well, your father has good taste,” Aille said, “Now, time to hunt down a pair of nice pants. I don’t think I’ve seen anything other than jeans and basketball shorts in there.”

“I have joggers, too,” Eren joked. Aille poked around in Eren’s closet for a few more minutes and pulled out a pair of black chinos. 

“I think this is the closest thing we’re going to get to nice pants,” Aille said with a sigh. She made a disgusted face at all the wrinkles on the pants. “Do you happen to have an iron?”

“Uh, I think Mikasa has one for her uniform,” Eren thought aloud. At Aille’s confused expression he added, “My sister, she’s in the ROTC program over at college and she has all these fancy uniforms.”

Eren went over to the small laundry room and found a large ironing board and iron. 

“Aille, we have a problem: I have no fucking clue how to use this,” Eren said with a sheepish grin. 

“It’s fine, I figured you wouldn’t know how to use it. I’ll just do it for you,” Aille grabbed the iron from Eren. She got right to ironing out his clothing after putting some water in the iron. “Go take a shower while I do this.”

Eren did as he was told, though not entirely comfortable with taking a shower with Aille outside. He quickly got over it and cleaned himself. Aille seemed to be done with his pants and was now working on his shirt. At first, Eren watched in amazement as his once wrinkly shirt smoothed out. But he saw the beads of sweat forming on Aille’s forehead and went into the kitchen. After all, Eren knew exactly how she liked her drinks- extremely sweet-so he didn’t mind flexing his skills for her. When he returned with the iced raspberry tea, she was already done. Wow, she was good. 

“Here, I made some raspberry tea,” Eren handed her the cup. His eyes trailed to her lips as she drew the cup nearer to her mouth.  _ Date! With Levi! Snap out of it! _ Eren folded up the ironing board and carried the tools back to the laundry room, attempting to forget that he was gawking at someone. 

“Eren, take off your shirt.” Eren choked on his drink.

“Wha-What?” 

“I mean, take off your shirt and change into an undershirt so I can do your hair. I don’t want you to mess up your hair while changing or drop some gel onto your nice shirt.”  _ Oh, that makes a lot more sense.  _ Eren went into his room and did as he was told, changing into a basic white shirt. When he got into his bathroom, Aille seemed to have materialized a makeup bag out of nowhere and was now petting a very happy Kimchi. 

“Do you have some hair products I can use?” Eren pointed to a small shelf/drawer thing sitting on his rather large vanity. Aille found some gel, a hair straightener, pomade, and some other hair products along with various combs and brushes. “Why are they all so brand new?”

“Eh, I never use them. My parents and Mikasa will buy them for me but I never bother. Obviously,” he grinned and pointed at his long, messy hair. 

Aille brought over Eren’s chair from his desk and sat him down. She assessed the situation at hand. His long locks were messy, which she didn’t even realize he had long hair until she saw him with his hair down for the first time. 

“Do you mind if I snip off a few inches?” Eren gulped. His hair was his pride and joy, and he barely knew Aille. But he trusted her. He nodded his head hesitantly. Aille reached into her makeup bag- wait no it was actually a bag of hair styling stuff?- and pulled out a pair of scissors. Aille wrapped a towel around Eren and started to comb out his hair. Carefully she snipped off the split ends and styled his hair.  She ran pomade through his hair, rearranging some bits and pieces. 

“Ta-da!” Eren looked at the mirror. 

“Holy shit… I look hot,” Eren realized that he said that outloud and groaned inwardly.

“Indeed you do!” Aille said while spritzing hairspray on Eren. “Okay it’s almost 4 now and I gotta go. Don’t you dare mess up your hair or wrinkle your clothes, which by the way are on your desk, since I don’t want your cat’s hair all over them. I’m guessing you don’t have a lint roller?”

“Yeah, but Mikasa does. I’ll just use hers.” Aille looked satisfied. 

“Well, good luck on your date!” Aille kissed his cheek lightly and headed toward the door. “Oh, by the way, you might want to put on some cologne.” She slipped on her heels and out the door. Eren stood near the doorway, slightly dazed at what happened, slightly nervous for the date. 

He still had an hour to kill so he decided to finish watching the Rupaul’s Drag Race season that he had started watching last time. It amazed him to no ends how these men turned into gorgeous men. Now that he was thinking about it, Aille really looked like Levi, just more feminine. Maybe they were somehow related? Cousins? Siblings? He would have to ask Levi later.

 

_ An hour later…. _

**_Levi: I’m in your lobby, kid. Better be down in five minutes or I’m leaving._ **

Eren scrambled to put on his shoes, and remembering Aille’s advice, put on a tad bit of cologne.  _ Okay Eren, you got this.  _

He headed down, rolling his feet in nervousness the entire elevator ride down. At his lobby, he found Levi dressed in a sharp black shirt and black slacks, just a slight deviation from his normal business attire. 

“Uh hi, Levi,” Eren managed to stammer out.

“You look nice. Good to see that you haven’t managed to injure yourself in the past few hours I haven’t heard from you. Let’s go, my car’s outside.”

Eren’s jaw dropped at Levi’s car. A fifth generation silver corvette?! It was his dream car. 

“Oi, brat, quit drooling over my car and get in before I regret asking you to dinner.” 

Eren clambered into the seat, but being careful not to damage the car. The drive to the theater was slightly awkward, with only a few words exchanged between the two. Once at the theater, they stuck out like a sore thumb amidst casual jeans and t-shirts. The movie was pretty funny, it was about a CIA agent and his quest to redeem himself with the help of an old high school acquaintance. He didn’t see Levi laughing at all though, and that somewhat threw him off. 

“Did you like the movie?” Levi asked as he drived towards the restaurant.

“Yeah, it was pretty good,” Eren replied. And yup, the conversation was dead. The restaurant they pulled up to was an expensive French restaurant; Eren knew it was impossible to get a reservation. 

“Are we really eating here?” 

“No, we’re just going to stare at the exterior and hope our stomach is filled,” Levi deadpanned. He held out a hand toward Eren and Eren took his hand. They entered the restaurant hand in hand, and Eren could feel those damn butterflies back at it. “Table for two, Ackerman,” Levi told the hostess before she could open her mouth.  _ Ackerman, huh?  _

They were seated in a small table in the back corner, with a glass wall to their side. Eren awkwardly stared at the menu, not understanding most of what it said. 

“Do you want me to just order for you?” 

“Yeah, that’d be great. I don’t really know what to eat.”

“How old are you?”

“Uh twenty-one, why?”

“Tch, just making sure I’m not buying a minor some wine,” Levi said. He signaled over the waiter and rattled off their orders. The waiter soon returned with some wine and started pouring both of them a glass. “I got red, since you’re a college student who’s more used to tequila shots than wine.”

“Yeah. My friends were actually going out today. Normally I’d get drunk less than an hour in,” Eren mumbled. 

“Oh really? Do tell,” Levi said with an amused look. Eren eventually started recanting random drunk party stories, like the one where Jean challenged Eren to shots and both of them did like 10 before Jean tapped out. And later that night, he drunkenly asked out Marco, who rejected him since he was drunk. 

“-yeah, so like for a week Jean was moping because he thought Marco didn’t like him. Turned out Marco just wanted a proper asking out,” Eren said. 

“Your friends sound interesting.”

“Oh geez, you have no idea.” Their food arrived and throughout the meal they had a continuous conversation, mostly just Eren and his weird college experiences. Levi ordered creme brulee for dessert. 

“I didn’t know you ate sweets?” Levi raised an eyebrow, and suddenly Eren was reminded of Aille. “I mean you order the same bitter drink everyday, I was beginning to wonder if you even have taste buds for sweetness.” Eren elaborated. Levi let out a deep chuckle and Eren felt the need to clutch his chest. 

“Oh, by the way, I have to ask you something,” Eren said.

“Well, I’m not getting any younger here.”

“Do you-do you happen to have a twin or sister or someone that looks a lot like you? Like a lot,” Eren asked. 

“I think I’d know if I had a twin out there.”

“Aille, her name’s Aille. Do you know her?” Levi looked surprised for a second. 

“Yeah, she works at my salon. How do you know her?” Levi responded. 

“I met her at the cafe. You work at a salon? I always thought you were some sort of businessman.”

“I don’t just work there, I own it.” It must be one hell of a salon if Levi can afford all this. 

“Oh, well you and Aille look so similar, you should take a good look at her sometime,” Eren said. 

“I’m not staring at one of my employees, Eren.”

“You should though,” Eren argued. He dropped the subject, somewhat satisfied that Levi knows of Aille. The two eased back into a normal conversation about work, school, friends. It was around nine when the wine bottle was drained and they decided that they should wrap up their dinner. Levi drived the Eren back to his place. 

“Thanks for tonight, Levi,” Eren said nervously.

“You earned it, good job on your final.”

“Uh, so I was wondering if.. Uhm… you’d like to hang out sometime? Just something casual,” Eren rambled.

“Okay.”  _ I need a butterfly net god dammit.  _

“Goodnight, Levi,” Eren said shyly. He slightly bent down to kiss Levi on the cheek then quickly turned on his heel and half ran to the elevators. 

 

“Oh fuck, how am I supposed to tell him?” Levi wondered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TY for reading! (things might get steamier in future chapters ;) so keep an eye out for the rating)


	4. Double entendre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the reveal. dedicated to the ppl who still had faith in me even when i ditched the fic for almost a year. sorry about that.

Holy shit, what did Levi get himself into? He didn’t mean to do this, it just kind of did! He needed to tell Eren that he was Aille. But the worry was overwhelming, What if Eren got mad at him for lying? Technically, he wasn’t lying, just withholding the truth. What if Eren found it weird that he was genderfluid? Levi was internationally rationalizing his actions. He had been avoiding the coffee shop for a few days now, okay it had been a week; he couldn’t bear to see Eren. He had been ignoring his texts and calls as well. Well, at least “Levi” had been. Aille had been frequently contacting Eren and he couldn’t help but feel jealous. Then he felt incredibly stupid because it just didn’t make sense to be jealous. 

I can do this, Levi thought as he grated his teeth and entered that shitty cafe where he met Eren. Goddammit Erwin, why did you hire such a hot employee? Levi cursed his old friend. 

“Levi…” he heard the voice that had haunted his dreams for the past week. He could hear Eren’s voice crack a bit.

“Eren,” Levi didn’t know what else to say. “Large black coffee, one shot.” 

“What?”

“You heard me. Large black coffee, one shot.”

“Seriously? That’s all you have to say to me? You ignored me for an entire week!” Eren started losing his temper.

“I’ve been busy,” Levi suppressed whatever emotion threatened to escape. 

“You could’ve at least texted me back!” Oh shit, he’s getting really mad now. At least the cafe was mostly empty due to the time of day.

“What’s all this fuss about, Eren?” a smooth voice interrupted the tantrum.

“Uh, nothing, Sir. It’s just, uhm. This customer is being very… impolite,” Eren stammered out.

“Tch. Whatever. Erwin, this shitty brat still hasn’t gotten me my coffee, or accepted my money. You should train your employees better,” Levi said coolly. Erwin smiled slightly at Levi and made the drink for him (Erwin knew exactly what the short man wanted).

“Eren, I know Levi may be a… difficult customer, but please try your best not to yell at him, or any customer for that matter,” Erwin reprimanded, with no anger in his voice.

“Yes, sir,” Eren said while looking at his feet.

“You can take a break.”

“But sir? I just got here,” Eren replied. Erwin just gave him a look and Eren quickly scrambled into the employee locker room and put his stuff into his locker. When he walked back out, Levi was sitting at the same table he usually sat, but this time instead of staring at his phone, he was staring at Eren. Said boy angrily stomped over to Levi’s table and sat down where a green tea latte was waiting for him.

“Erwin said you order this sometimes,” Levi said glancing at the drink then back at Eren. “Look, I owe you an explanation.”

“Damn right you do!” Should I actually tell him the truth? Levi was considering his options.

“I just. I just freaked out alright? I’m turning thirty this year and you’re still some college kid,” Levi came up with a fake excuse. It did have some truth though.

“You didn’t seem to have a problem with that when you asked me on the date in the first place! You knew I was in college,” Eren retorted. Damn, he does have a point.

“I’ve never been in an actual relationship!” Levi blurted. Really, brain? That’s the best thing you could come up with? Thank god Levi wasn’t a lawyer or something, because he’d totally suck.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘Oh’,” Levi mocked. 

“Well then, if that’s your only excuse, I’ll teach you!” 

“Excuse me?” Levi asked, arching an eyebrow. 

“I said I’ll teach you! Since you’re new to the dating thing and all,” Eren said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Can I see your dating resume?” Levi joked. Eren blushed and Levi couldn’t help but think that it was the most adorable thing in the world. 

“I-It’s not like there’s a lot of people on the list… I’ve just.. I was just…”

“I’m kidding kid. But I guess, if you want, I’ll be your virgin sacrifice,” Levi snorted when Eren choked on his latte. 

“You’re a virgin?” 

“No. That was a joke. If you want, you can have my list of previous partners, and we can even go get tested together, too.” Eren’s blush deepened and his ears looked like they were about to burst into flames.

“No, I mean yes? At some point I guess, but it’s too early for that,” Eren said. Levi appreciated the flustered look on Eren’s face. “Let’s go on a date… laser tagging!” 

“That’s for fifth graders.”

“Movies?”

“Already did that.”

“Coffee?”

“Already doing that.”

“Drag!”

“What kind of drag? Drag racing or drag queens,” Levi said suspiciously.

“I meant let’s go drag racing but I guess a drag show could be fun.”

“No to both.” Eren let out a long whine.

“Water park?”

“Germs.”

“Roller skating!” Hmm. That sounded fun. 

“Sure. I’m pretty sure you’d fall on your ass the entire time but if you want to, why not?”

“Ha! I knew it! You’re such an old man, I knew you’d want to roller skate. Do you miss the seventies? Your crazy teen years?” Levi shot a glare at Eren. “I’m kidding, you’re no fun!” Eren stuck out his tongue. 

“So want to go today?” Eren asked.

“Sure.”

“I’ll pick you up,” Eren offered. 

“You don’t even have a car,” Levi said nonchalantly. 

“How do you know that?” Levi’s eyes widened. That was something Aille knew. Not Levi. 

“Just a lucky guess. You’re a shitty college brat working at a coffee shop. Obviously you don’t have the budget for a car” Thankfully, Eren bought it. “I’ll pick you up. When do you get off work?”

“Uh two?” Levi nodded. He then packed up his things and started leaving. 

“See you later. By the way, you might want to get back to work,” Levi said with a smirk. Eren noticed that his break had lasted past his usual ten minutes and the cafe was starting to fill with morning rush. He dashed into the locker room to grab his stuff and resume his job, after shooting Erwin an apologetic glance. No matter how many shitty customers he encountered, nothing could wipe that dumb smile off of his face.   
____  
By 1:59, Levi was ready to just stand up Eren. The predate jitters would not stop. At precisely two, he steeled his nerves and entered the cafe. Eren’s eyes shifted to the door at the sound of the bell and he looked disappointed (?) to see Aille (supposedly not Levi) standing in front of him. Aille couldn’t help but grin.

“Oh hey, Aille. What can I get you today?” It was two and he should be getting off of work, but Eren couldn’t help himself. Aille was still hot, Levi or not.

“Green tea latte with hazelnut and white mocha, medium. And a drink of your choice,” Aille responded, slightly nervous which was completely out of character. At Eren’s confused face, Aille clarified, “You get off at two right? Make yourself a drink, we have somewhere to go.”

“Oh, about that. I have a date right now?”

“Yeah I know, Levi. I’m your… ride to the date,” Aille lied relatively smoothly.

“Oh okay,” Eren said with a grin. Jeez, this kid was too easy to kidnap. “7.45”

Aille handed the money over and collected her drink once it came out. She tapped her heeled foot on the tile, anxious about how this would plan out. Of course, she had planned everything out but there was no way for her to predict Eren’s reaction. Oh well. YOLO.

Once Eren came out from the employee room, the two slipped into Aille’s small car.

“Uh, Aille? This isn’t the way to the roller rink?” Eren stammered.

“Trust me,” Aille said. Eren didn’t know how to respond. Eventually, Aille pulled over in front of Rivaille’s Hair & Makeup Salon. 

“Is… is this where you work?”

“Yeah.” It was starting to scare Eren that Aille was being terse and solemn. “Just follow me.”

Aille tugged Eren into the empty salon and sat him down at a booth. She turned his chair to face the mirror as she stood behind him. Then, she grabbed a makeup wipe from the station. Taking a deep breath, Aille tugged off the falsie on her right eye. Then, using the wipe, she cleaned the right side of her face, squeezing her eyes shut to not see Eren’s reaction. 

“Look familiar?” Aille asked, dropping her voice back to normal.

“Oh. My. GOD!” Eren’s jaw was on the floor. “LEvi? What’s going on?”

“Okay, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it but I’m genderfluid. I’m Levi but basically, I switch between genders, it just sort of happens. Somewhere along those lines, I ended up creating a completely separate persona, Aille. When I went to that cafe as Aille, I didn’t expect you to be there. And I especially didn’t expect for you to not realize that it was me. At first, I just wanted to tease you for a bit, but damn, you shitty brat you’re too adorable. I got caught up in my own lies. Eren, I really like you and I don’t want to hide the truth from you anymore. I understand if you don’t want to talk to me anymore.” 

“No what the fuck? Listen, I was having a quarterlife crisis over the fact that I like you and… well YOU! I like you, Levi, Aille, anybody in between and out. I like you for you. Also, you’re really hot no matter how you dress… so that’s a plus.”

Levi/Aille engulfed him in a kiss.

“Oh I have one question though,” Eren said pulling back.

“Hmm?”

“Why a kia rio when you have a corvette?”

“The pedals are easier to reach,” Levi replied nonchalantly. Eren guffawed and kissed Levi again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU for encouraging me to write this. I'm really sorry for bailing. A week after I pubbed ch3, my mom died. Consequently, I lost my house and had to duke it out with insurance companies for a while now. I also picked up three jobs in addition to school so i just haven't had time to write. BUT now im in the clear, got my house back. got promoted last week ($$$). ONce again, a loud THANKS to everyone who commented/kudosed, love yall. Sadly, this is the end of the adventures of Aille/Levi & Eren.  
> -Lex/Lynn

**Author's Note:**

> So, disclaimer: my perception of bigender-ness can be different than yours. I'm bigender and I usually present the way I'm feeling day to day to help avoid confusion from other people. Gender binary bs but that's just my lifestyle. 
> 
> also i'm 1000% salty about katya and if anybody catches that reference, I love you to the ends of the universe kthxbai.


End file.
